How To Improve No-Knead Bread

The February issue of Cook’s Illustrated comes up with a way to improve on the insanely popular No-Knead Bread recipe that Mark Bittman printed in The New York Times in 2006. (The recipe was developed by Jim Lahey of Manhattan’s Sullivan Street Bakery.)

So, how do you make no-knead bread better? Well… by kneading it! Writer J. Kenji Alt explains the logic clearly — and it’s only 15 seconds of kneading, meant to create an airy crumb — but we are still awash in irony.

Alt makes other tweaks to fix what he found to be the dull flavor of the original bread. He decreased the water content to improve the shape, added white vinegar for tang, and beer for yeasty flavor.

The Cook’s Illustrated recipe follows. I’m eager to try it, but the instructions on my Dutch oven say it’s safe only to 450 degrees, and I can’t quite justify buying another pot for a single recipe. Next step: Hitting up my friends to borrow a cast-iron pot.